Ohio State’s Will Howard can go from being ‘Just A Guy’ to ‘That Dude’ if he stays hot in CFP.
Ohio State vs. Oregon rematch is ‘a blessing,’ Buckeyes quarterback says.
Against Tennessee in the CFP, Will Howard looked nothing like the guy who lost to Michigan.
Some questions don’t require an answer, and we didn’t need Ohio State quarterback’s Will Howard’s words to tell us why he relished the Buckeyes’ game plan in a College Football Playoff smashing of Tennessee.
Jeremiah Smith’s targets told the story.
Howard threw to Smith, the ballyhooed freshman who became a USA TODAY All-America selection, seven times. Smith caught six of those passes, two for touchdowns.
Howard slung seven passes to Emeka Egbuka, his dependable veteran. Egbuka caught five.
On a 25-degree night, Ohio State’s quarterback supplied one of the best games of his career, torching the Volunteers and looking nothing like the guy who sputtered against Michigan.
“I was fired up about our game plan,” Howard said, “I think we did a hell of a job executing it.”
Do tell, why so fired up?
“I mean, you saw it,” Howard said, providing a dodging answer that really didn’t need elaboration.
Yeah, we saw it. We saw offensive coordinator Chip Kelly dial up an aggressive attack intent on putting the Buckeyes’ perimeter players into space and calling on Howard to let it rip, to the tune of 311 yards.
‘Will,’ Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said, ‘was excellent.’
As excellent as ever.
Is it fair to call Will Howard ‘Just A Guy?’
Ohio State’s offensive line kept Tennessee’s vaunted defensive front at bay. By the end of four quarters, Tennessee’s defensive backs were cooked, utterly outclassed by the Buckeyes’ receivers.
“I think we’ve got the three best receivers in the country, but I’m a little biased,” Howard said.
Biased, but not all that off base. Many would agree that Ohio State, collectively, features the nation’s best receiving corps.
What of its quarterback, though? Is Howard good enough for Ohio State to win a national championship?
The short answer is yes, particularly when you factor in his unmatched supporting cast of skill-position playmakers.
Examine the eight remaining quarterbacks in the playoff. If you’re selecting a quarterback to go win a national championship, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel would come off the board first.
After that, give me Howard.
He’s no Justin Fields or C.J. Stroud, but Howard rates as an improvement over Kyle McCord, the Buckeyes’ quarterback last season.
Despite lofty stats, Howard generated limited buzz for the Heisman Trophy. He falls under the “Just A Guy” heading of quarterbacks. That label comes off a tad harsh to quarterback who’s had Howard’s season.
He ranks second nationally in completion percentage (73.2%) and fifth for touchdown passes (29). He’s third in quarterback efficiency, outranking Oregon’s Gabriel, Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in that category, the three finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s best quarterback.
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‘Blessing’ for Ohio State to get rematch with Oregon
A quarterback’s lowlights are remembered as much as his highlights, depending on a game’s outcome, and that might influence perception of Howard. He threw two interceptions in Ohio State’s loss to Michigan. One set up the Wolverines at the 2-yard line for their lone touchdown. The other occurred inside the red zone and thwarted a Buckeyes scoring opportunity. Howard played at his worst in Ohio State’s biggest regular-season game.
That wasn’t the case when the Buckeyes lost to Oregon. Howard threw for a season-high 326 yards, but the play most remembered most was his moment-too-late slide at the end of a scramble, while time expired. If he had slid a couple of steps sooner, the Buckeyes would have had an attempt at a long game-winning field goal.
‘The way that last (game against Oregon) ended doesn’t sit right with me,” Howard said. “It still doesn’t. It still bugs me. And I’m just thankful for the opportunity that we get another crack at them.
“In life, you don’t get a lot of second chances. The fact that we’re getting a second chance here is a blessing.”
Howard’s execution of Ohio State’s game plan against Tennessee ensured that second chance materialized. Deliver a few more playoff victories, and Howard would alter the narrative that he’s “Just A Guy.” Win a national championship, and Howard would become ‘That Dude.’
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.
